Re: [9fans] coraid ethernet console

[erik quanstrom <quanstro@coraid.com>]

hanks for the thoughtful response, russ.

On Mon Mar 19 09:40:26 EDT 2007, rsc@swtch.com wrote:
> > 1.  consolefs doesn't yet speak cec.  (good soc project.)
> 
> as long as you have a cec client that presents a file,
> consolefs should be able to read it.  consolefs doesn't
> speak serial either.

cec(1) doesn't currently present a file.  it is modeled on con.
there should be something like /net/cec, but i haven't done
that work yet.

> 
> what is the relation between cec and this ethernet console?
> http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix03/tech/freenix03/kistler.html 

i would suspect that there is little relationship.  cec doesn't do
tcp, ip nor framebuffers.  can someone point me to a protocol
document?

> it would be nice if they could use the same protocols, though
> i don't know how complicated the freenix one is.  ericvh?
> 
> is the protocol documented somewhere other than the code?

the protocol documentation is in cec/Protocol.

> 
> security?
> 

the main security mechanism is that cec is an unrouted ethernet
protocol.  cec packets are not encapsulated in ip or (tcp/udp).
thus one would have to be on the local segment to access a
machine's cec console.  

there is a password mechanism, but there is no encryption.
this is ment to be a reminder and not real security.  the password is
sent in the clear.

since servers generally have more interfaces than they need these
days, one could set up a seperate network for cec and other management
functions, if one were interested in the utmost in security.

-erik